Stardew Valley is all about cultivating crops and making a living off the land—but there's so much more you can do with your fruits and vegetables than just selling them raw. As you advance your Farming skill, you'll unlock crafting recipes that allow you to turn your produce into high-value artisan goods through canning, preserving, and fermenting.

Two popular items that players craft in large quantities are Kegs and Preserves Jars. Both are essential for transforming crops—especially fruits and vegetables—into artisan goods that can significantly boost your profits. But which one is better? Let's delve into the advantages and disadvantages of each to help you decide.

Updated January 8, 2025, by Demaris Oxman: The 1.6 update has brought numerous changes to Stardew Valley, including tweaks and balancing adjustments. Notably, players can now use several forage items, such as Leeks, Spring Onions, Hazelnuts, Winter Roots, and more, to create Juice or Pickles in Kegs and Preserves Jars. This guide has been updated to reflect these changes, ensuring you have the latest information as you craft artisan goods on your farm.

Basics of Kegs and Preserves Jars

Both Preserves Jars and Kegs are invaluable on any farm, transforming your produce and other items into lucrative artisan goods. This is particularly profitable if you've chosen the Artisan profession, which boosts the sell price of these goods by 40%.

It's important to note that the quality of the item you place in a Preserves Jar or Keg doesn't affect the quality or sell price of the resulting artisan product. For instance, a Jelly made from a gold-quality fruit will sell for the same price as one made from a normal-quality fruit. Therefore, it's wise to use your lowest-quality items for artisan products.

Preserves Jars

Preserves Jars are your go-to for producing canned goods: Jelly, Pickles, Aged Roe, and Caviar. You can obtain Preserves Jars as rewards from the Quality Crops or Rare Crops bundles at the Community Center, or as prizes from the Prize Machine. The crafting recipe for Preserves Jars becomes available at Farming Level 4 and requires:

• 50 Wood
• 40 Stone
• 8 Coal

Here are the items you can craft with a Preserves Jar:

Kegs

Kegs, on the other hand, are used to produce beverages. These include alcoholic drinks like Wine, Beer, and Pale Ale, as well as non-alcoholic options like Coffee, Juice, Green Tea, and Vinegar.

You can obtain Kegs as rewards for completing the Artisan Bundle or Brewer's Bundle, or as prizes from the Prize Machine. The crafting recipe is available at Farming Level 8 and requires:

• 30 Wood
• 1 Copper Bar
• 1 Iron Bar
• 1 Oak Resin

Here are the items you can craft with a Keg:

Item Placed In Keg	Product	Base Sell Price
Any fruit	[fruit name] Wine	3 x [base fruit price]
Any vegetable except for Hops or Wheat	[item name] Juice	2.25 x [base item price]
Any Forage item with a positive energy value, other than Mushrooms	[item name] Juice	2.25 x [base item price]
Hops	Pale Ale	300g
Wheat	Beer	200g
Honey	Mead	200g
Tea Leaves	Green Tea	100g
Coffee Bean (5)	Coffee	150g
Rice	Vinegar	100g

Kegs or Preserves Jars: Which Is Better?

Pros & Cons of Kegs

As the tables above show, Kegs generally produce goods that result in higher profits than those from Preserves Jars. For instance, Wine from fruit is much more lucrative. Additionally, alcoholic beverages made in Kegs (Wine, Beer, Pale Ale, and Mead) can be aged in a Cask, which increases their quality and, consequently, their sell price. An Iridium-quality artisan product can fetch double the price of a normal-quality one.

However, Kegs are more expensive and time-consuming to craft. Mass-producing them involves forging numerous metal bars, crafting Tappers, and waiting for Oak Resin. If you plan to age your Keg products in Casks, you'll need the final home upgrade costing 100,000g, and possibly craft additional Casks from wood and hardwood. Kegs also take longer than Preserves Jars to produce their end product, not including any aging time.

For experienced players, the challenge of crafting Kegs can be rewarding, but Preserves Jars have their own merits and shouldn't be overlooked.

Pros & Cons of Preserves Jars

Preserves Jars are cost-effective and straightforward to craft, requiring only basic materials. They can be particularly profitable in the early years of your farm, especially before you unlock the Keg recipe. Many players eventually shift to Kegs due to the higher sell values of their products.

Yet, it's beneficial to keep some Preserves Jars around. They process items much faster than Kegs, allowing for quicker turnovers and potentially comparable profits, especially for low-value, high-yield crops like Blueberry. If a fruit's base price is 50g or less, or a vegetable's base price is 200g or less, it's generally more profitable to use a Preserves Jar due to the shorter processing time.

Additionally, some items can only be processed in Preserves Jars or Kegs. For example, while fruit can go in either, only Preserves Jars can increase the value of Roe, and only Kegs can turn Honey into Mead. Therefore, having both Preserves Jars and Kegs on your farm is crucial for maximizing your artisan goods production.